Unlock the publisher’s digest free
Roula Khalaf, editor -in -chief of the FT, selects her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.
The actions of the first Chinese battery manufacturer CATL climbed more than 16% on their first day of negotiation in Hong Kong after the largest world list this year.
The secondary offer has increased at least $ 4.6 billion, the amount which should reach $ 5.3 billion if an option allowing subscribers to sell more shares than expected is exercised.
He is one of the biggest offers in Hong Kong by Chinese companies already registered on the continent in recent years, with Catl also quoted in Shenzhen.
The founder Robin Zeng struck a Gong to celebrate the start of negotiations on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. He was joined by the financial secretary of Hong Kong, Paul Chan, and the deputy mayor of the coastal city of Ningde in south-eastern China, where the company has its registered office.
Catl was not satisfied to be “just a manufacturer of battery components” and was about to be the “pioneer” of the zero-carbon economy, Zeng said on Tuesday.
CATL represents approximately 37% of the global markets of electrical and energy storage batteries. Supplier of Tesla, BMW and Volkswagen, the company rich in cash had requested an offshore list to collect without renminbi funding for its expansion abroad, including a factory of $ 7.3 billion in Hungary.
The list has undergone the support of American banks, while a management company of American assets was a key investor, despite geopolitical tensions swirling in the agreement.
In January, the battery manufacturer was added to a black list of the Pentagon which would have links with the Chinese army, although it denied such links.
A republican legislator in April urged Jpmorgan Chase and Bank of America to stop work on the list, in a sign of politicization of these agreements on the capital markets. American lenders remained as main bankers on the transaction, as well as China International Capital Corporation and the Chinese securities supported by the State.
The demand was stimulated by the growing gap of global investors in American assets, including the US dollar, according to analysts.
Market players suggested that the list played a role in reducing the exchange rate of the Hong Kong dollar earlier in May, while supply investors bought Hong Kong dollars and speculators to increase, forcing Hong Kong Monetary Authority to intervene and buy almost $ 17 billion to maintain the exchange rate.
“We are in this type of unique scenario, where you have a well-known company issuing new actions, also at a time when you have a macro factor where investors want to diversify with actions related to the US dollar,” said Jason, responsible for equity in Asia-Pacific and the derived strategy of BNP Paribas.
Analysts and participants of the agreement said they thought that the increased request allowed CATL prices at the upper end of $ 263 HK per share – only a discount of approximately 7% compared to the price at the closing on Monday in Shenzhen, where his actions are negotiated almost 18 times the profits.
Chinese “A-Shares” on continent’s exchanges are generally negotiated with a two-digit percentage in relation to their “H-Share” equivalents in Hong Kong, and initial public offers are generally evaluated at a discount to attract buyers.
Wang Shuguang, a member of the Chinese brokerage house management committee CICC, said that CATL’s successful beginnings would encourage more Chinese companies in various sectors to pursue lists in Hong Kong.
“The A-Share market provides robust liquidity and higher evaluations,
While the Hong Kong market allows flexible funding, “said Wang.” By taking advantage of both, companies can access various financing options and stimulate the financial agility of their global operations. “”
The Chinese oil company Sinopec, the sovereign heritage fund of the Kowette Investment Authority and the Asian Fund Hillhouse Investment invested before the shares were made public as so -called cornerstone of cornerstone. They were joined by Oaktree Capital Management and Lingotto belonging to the United States, an investment vehicle supported by the Italian industrial family Agnelli, as well as by units of two Chinese state groups, the Postal Savings Bank of China and the insurer Taikang Life.
A person familiar with the agreement told Financial Times that other American investors have chosen to wait until the list after registration in order to reduce Washington control.
Meanwhile, many American investors on land will not have access to actions, given that the registration has been filed under a “reg S” regulation rather than “144a” under the American laws on securities. This is free from certain disclosure obligations and means that American investors without offshore accounts are prohibited from investing.
